National signing day is Wednesday, and Cretin-Derham Hall football star Seantrel Henderson is expected to announce his college choice that day in New York. Seantrel will be in the Big Apple to take part in a televised show with national recruiting expert Tom Lemming, who first declared Seantrel the top recruit in the nation. Seantrel, a 6-foot-8, 330-pound lineman who helped lead Cretin-Derham Hall to a state championship in the fall, was on this weekend’s cover of Parade Magazine as its national player of the year. I talked Monday with Sean Henderson about his son’s recruitment.

BS: Has Seantrel made his decision about a college, and is he just holding off announcing it?

SH: No, he hasn’t made a decision. I can honestly say, 100 percent, he hasn’t made a decision yet.

BS: Are you worried he may not decide by Wednesday?

SH: No, I’m not. I want him to be able to take as much time as he needs.

BS: Has he said to you, “Dad, where should I go?”

SH: He has never said that. That’s not my call. I don’t want to be the reason. This is one time I can’t push him on the swing.

BS: At 6-8, 330, he’d be tough to push on a swing nowadays.

SH: Yes, he would. (Laughs.)

BS: Is the University of Minnesota still very much in the running?

SH: We were just with the Gophers last (Sunday) night. We were at TCF Bank Stadium until 11 p.m. A lot of people think we may be leaving because of the weather here. Seantrel is making his decision based on relationships and comfortability with players and coaches.

BS: So, will you be moving with Seantrel if he leaves Minnesota?

SH: Definitely, 100 percent, if he chooses to do that (and attend a school other than Minnesota).

BS: There’s a rumor out there that Snoop Dogg has told you that if Seantrel goes to Southern Cal, he would help you launch your rap career. Any truth to that?

SH: Emphatically, no. I’ve never met Snoop. I’ve never ever, ever comprised anything so that what I’m doing with my life has anything to do with Seantrel. I’ve never initiated a conversation about music into Seantrel’s career at all. My career and music, and Seantrel’s career never have been discussed. Three schools said, “You rap.” They brought it up at the University of Florida. It came up this weekend at the University of Miami. They said they heard, “Blah, blah, blah.” My mother saw it on the Ohio State Buckeyes’ (Web) site. I don’t know where it’s coming from. I never talked to Snoop ever in my life. Nobody talked music and my situation. I’ve heard people say, “Oh, there are great studios here.” I told Seantrel how uncomfortable that makes me. I’m not interested in combining my music with Seantrel’s career. He has a tough decision. I’m just doing whatever a dad would do. I think people — because they’re so concerned with (his decision) and there’s so much emotion in where Seantrel is going — they want to find different variables of why he’d go here, or why he’d go there. In case he doesn’t pick their school, they can say, “Oh, it’s his dad.” Or, “It’s his mom and dad.” It’s his decision 100,000 percent. We don’t want to cloud his decision-making process.

BS: What’s it like to be the father of one of the most sought-after high school athletes in the nation?

SH: I am so proud. Words can’t describe how proud I am. He’s a hard worker. He is growing as a young man. He is doing all the things a young person should do who just turned 18.

BS: Are schools recruiting you as well as Seantrel?

SH: Definitely. They say, “This is the reason why we’d love to have your kid.” They think he’s a great kid. Some say he’d start as a true freshman. Some say how they’d implement him (into their system). We live in a cold place. Some use the weather as a reason to go to their school. They’re the greatest salesmen in the world.

BS: I remember when Kris Humphries was in high school (at Hopkins), his father showed me his cell phone and he had the numbers of just about all the top college basketball coaches. Do you have all of college football’s top coaches in your phone?

SH: Yeah. As schools try to recruit him, I talk to all the head coaches, assistant coaches, line coaches. I talk to them all. I have them all in my phone.

BS: Has it been fun, or an annoyance?

SH: It’s a little bit of both. He’s a very, very sought-after young man. Some say he’s number one in the country. To some people, he is the most prized possession for guys recruiting. He is the biggest catch. I think the biggest problem I have, or the most frustrating thing, is I’ve been more than compliant with the media. Sometimes, the media can ask a lot of him, or even of me. Sometimes, you give a little bit and they want more out of it. Sometimes, they call you 50 times a day. Sometimes, there’s a real thin line between them getting the story and respecting your privacy.

BS: So, is it a problem that I called you?

SH: No, no, not you. One particular person goes back and forth. I kind of said, “You’re asking a whole lot of me.” I’ll do that. I’ll do that. I just wish sometimes they could respect that thin line.

BS: Do coaches have to go through you to talk to Seantrel?

SH: No. Coaches, media, everybody always has had Seantrel’s number. Seantrel had to get to the point of telling them, “You talk to my dad.” At 16, 17, there were certain times he might publicly commit to something he wasn’t understanding. The more successful he got, the more calls he got. I’m there to kind of alleviate and take the weight off his shoulders.

BS: Is it true you call yourself, “The Gatekeeper?”

SH: I’ve never self-proclaimed myself as “The Gatekeeper.” I don’t recall calling myself that. I’m just his dad. I’m trying to make things easier for him. I want all of this to be a great experience for him. My only job is to make it easier for him and, at the same time, I’m making it easier for him, when he’s in class or at lunch or practicing. I take everybody’s call. I pretty much talk to everybody.

BS: Where does all this talent come from — you or both you and his mom?

SH: The talent, the size is a perfect combination of our families. My father’s side played a lot of high school ball and football in Minneapolis and the Minneapolis area. It’s just a great combination. His grandfather on his mother’s side was 6-11, 400 pounds.

BS: Did you play football?

SH: I played street football until ninth grade. When I got to high school, I just played basketball.

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